


inevitability

by blueseawitch



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Character Study
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 15:10:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20623100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueseawitch/pseuds/blueseawitch
Summary: Master Ava looks down at her hands, folded neatly in front of her soft pink dress as she speaks. In the morning-evening light of Daybreak town, the elegant curves of her mask seem almost set aglow, like the holy pictures from Elrena’s home world....“This world is going to end” She says.Elrena, fourteen years old, keyblade wielder, facing the end of the world.





	inevitability

Master Ava looks down at her hands, folded neatly in front of her soft pink dress as she speaks. In the morning-evening light of Daybreak town, the elegant curves of her mask seem almost set aglow, like the holy pictures from Elrena’s home world.

She looks perfect, pristine, pure, everything Elrena isn’t. She’s the sort of girl, with her soft voice and gentle heart, that Elrena has always hated.

“ _ This world is going to end _ ” She says. 

Elrena stands in front of the fountain while Master Ava describes an inevitable war and darkness, fated to destroy everything Elrena has ever known. She offers Elrena the impossible chance to avoid it. To save herself by running.

It’s hardly a choice but..

“Why me?” She asks the Master, only a few years older than her. She feels like she should have more protest to this revelation of the end of the world, but her heart feels like an empty calm. “I’m not ungrateful but..”

Elrena is a good wielder. She makes her quotas, she’s polite to her union leader, she works with a party for a few weeks before switching to another. She’s well regarded. Someone respected but not exceptional, a dime of the dozen of the more competent wielders in the upper ranks. 

Elrena doesn’t think she’s a great person. She doesn’t really try to be. She has no friends, no long lasting bonds formed, not even the sort of religious rivalry with other unions to motivate her. She’s here because she likes killing heartless. She’s here because she had nothing better to do. 

Elrena scuffs her foot against the pavement. She’s not so stupid as to think Master Ava doesn’t know this. She’s a Foreteller, with a book of prophecies by her side. She has a role given by the world's highest power to find people worthy to live on and she would choose—?

“I think everyone deserves a chance.” Master Ava says, her mask lowering a little as her unseen eyes look down on Elrena. “I’d save everyone if I could, but I need to pick the people who can escape from here to bring light back again.”

“And you think I’d be good at that?” It’s hard to keep her tone from sounding derisive.

Ava clenches her hands in her lap as she nods once, firmly. “Yes, I. Elrena you have a very strong heart.” She looks up with the sort of unwavering will that freezes any protest Elrena has in her throat. “You might not think it, but there’s a light in you that I  _ know _ will outlast this world. Even if everything is destroyed, I know it wouldn’t slow you down. You’d keep looking forward right?” 

“Only because I don’t care.” Elrena murmurs, looking away from that mask. There’s guilt in that. Guilt that a Foreteller would assume she’s so much more than she is. 

“You care.” Ava places a hand on Elrena’s shoulder as she stands. “I know you do. You care so much more than you or anyone else thinks. I know you’ll care in the next world too.” She gives a little bow, turning away. “We have meetings here every month. I hope to see you there, Elrena. May your heart be your guiding key.”

“You to, Master Ava.” Elrena said, watching the girl walk away.

__

“I’m Strelitzia!” The girl said, holding out a hand with one of those perfect smiles the people of Daybreak town flashed so easily. “It's really nice to meet you, Elrena! Everyone says you’re a great party member!” 

“Do they?” Elrena said, as politely as she could muster. The way her Chirithy gave her a  _ look _ , it was clear she wasn’t wholly successful. “Well, thank you. I look forward to working for you this week.” 

“Aw. Just a week?” The girl honest to light pouted, puffing out her cheeks. “I see you at the Dandelion meetings all the time though. We should double up! It’ll be good to get to know each other.” 

Elrena forced a polite bland smile. Jeez, girl really didn’t know when to take a hint huh. “You probably shouldn’t talk about those here.” She said vaguely, eyeing the other members of the party milling about. “Not everyone really knows about the Dandelions, aren’t we supposed to keep it quiet?” 

“Huh...Actually I don’t know?” Strelitzia looked thoughtful for a second. “Wouldn’t it make sense to tell as many people as possible, so they’d want to join?” 

“How should I know?” Elrena said shortly. Behind her, her Chirithy coughed, its beady little eyes looking affronted at her tone. It wasn’t like she wanted to be in this conversation, Chirithy!

“Well uh…” Strelitzia pressed her fingers together before giving Elrena another smile. “I still hope we can work together! I think you’re pretty cool...and I’m pretty strong to, so lets get all the Lux we can for this week! 

Elrena looked at the girl, trying to hide the awkward distaste. How could she act like this with a war on the horizon? Everything was going to end, yet Strelitzia acted like a child who was just playing a rather exciting game. 

Than again, it was hardly Elrena’s problem. Just a week, and she’d never hear about this girl again. With a sigh she stuck out her hand, ignoring the way Strelitzia’s face lit up into a rosy blush. “Alright. Let’s team up for the week. I’ll work with you.”  _ And keep my nasty comments to myself.  _

The other girl beamed and Elrena couldn’t shake the feeling she’d made a horrible mistake. 

_ \--- _

A week passes. Elrena makes her quotas with flying colors, earning her the praise of her Union leader. It’s in no small part she supposes, due to Strelitzia’s assistance. The girl was actually as strong as she claimed, maybe even stronger. The humbleness sat as well with Elrena as the rest of her did. 

Still, a week is a week. Elrena hands in her resignation papers to the party leader with a smile that says this is just policy to her. He takes it gracefully, which she appreciates. Then it’s to the ranking board outside the Moodle shop. Maybe she’d pick a bigger party this time, where she won’t be noticed. That or go alone. It would be harder but she could reap all the rewards for herself….but that was the sort of thinking that got wielders killed. With a wry sigh she reached up, signing her name under the first party that caught her eye.

“Hey! Hey Elrena!” The pen nearly snapped in her fingers. Strelitzia skidded to a stop beside her, huffing. “Oh thank goodness! I caught you!” 

“What are you doing…?” Elrena starts when the other girl snatches the pen from her hand, leaning over to firmly scribble her name right under Elrena’s. 

“We make a good team!” She declares as Elrena gapes. “I’m going in for another week with you, if that's okay!” 

“You already signed your name, didn’t you.” Elrena’s said dryly. “Not really a point if I’m okay with it or not?” She felt her lip curl a little, and she stomped it down to just settle for rolling her eyes. “You’re a bit bossy for a goodie two shoes, huh? Got many friends?” 

Strelitzia stopped for a second, before pumping her fists. “Making friends is the most important step!” She cried, as if that explained anything. “You haven’t told me to go away yet! Everything is way better with friends anyway!” 

_ You’ve obviously confused me not telling you to leave with me caring.  _ Elrena thought, and then clenched her teeth at the familiar guilt. What was she doing? None of this was worth it at all. 

“Do what you want…” She finally said. It didn’t really feel like a victory, but Elrena didn’t care. “I’ll see you tomorrow, than.” 

“So uh, oh! Yeah! Does that mean you’re letting me tag along again!”   
  
“Like I said.” Elrena turned, suddenly sick of looking at the other girls face. She stuck her hands in her pockets as she walked away. “Do what you want, you know?” 

“I will!!” Strelitzia waved behind her. “I’ll see you tomorrow Elrena! Everything will work out, I promise!” 

\---

But everything got worse.

__

Master Ava had said that Elrena was someone with a strong heart, someone who could withstand the stress of the coming war. Maybe it should have felt flattering. 

Elrena just felt that Master Ava had been horribly wrong.

There was something about the knowledge that the world was going to end that stuck with her. It dogged her footsteps like a heavy cloud, colored her interactions with every wielder she met. A pleasant random encounter with a competent companion became a suppressed worry over their fate. A heated argument over the last medal in a shop now felt like a grievous sin. Innocent things in her daily life started to be suffused with a kind of dread she didn’t understand how to shake. 

It was strange. Nothing in Elena's life had changed. Nobody in it had changed. The amount Elrena cared hadn’t changed either. 

Maybe that was it. Nothing had changed, but she knew it would. Inevitably. Forever. Fearing change struck her as especially pathetic. Elrena was fourteen, not a child who needed to be coddled. She’d uprooted her life to come to Daybreak town. She could take down heartless three times her size without blinking. 

The worry she felt, the dread she felt. It was useless. Elrena tried to crush it all away, and than when it didn’t work, she turned to anger. Beating up heartless proved therapeutic for a while, but it didn’t solve the source of her feelings. Tensions rose in Daybreak down, as each union settled on its hackles, she felt her hands itch with rage at random as the days dragged on.

When Strelitzia told her that two union leaders had been seen fighting in the streets. Elrena threw her plate into a wall. 

Better the wall than Strelitzia. 

\---

Elrena had been waiting in line for the Moodle shop when she’d seen a fight break out in the square. Two wielders, different Unions, a rehash of the struggle that had been emerging in countless places across the town. It hadn’t been anything special, Elrena had shrugged and gone back to staring idly at the wall until she heard the familiar clang of a keyblade against metal. It echoed with a fine tune, making the boy beside her jump. She turned and gaped.

The square flashed with magic, the two wielders going all out against each other, magic flashing as they clashed in the displays of strength. They kept shouting, above it all, audible even over the rising commotion in the shop. 

Lux, it was about lux, of course. 

“Oh...oh..” The boy beside her shook pressing his hands to his face. “Somebody go get the Union Leaders. They’re going to kill each other.” 

“Don’t be an idiot!” Somebody else hissed. “You can’t do that! That’s not what keyblades are for! They’re just for harvesting Lux!”

“Doesn’t seem like they care.” Elrena said flatly, staring at the square. A dark haired girl ran onto the scene, friend in hand and shouting. She was a Dandelion to, Elrena was pretty sure. 

How heroic, jumping in to save people who she knew were already dead. 

Elrena scoffed, something ugly bubbling up in her chest. She pushed passed the boy out of line. She didn’t want to see any more of this. 

__

The day afterwards, she tells Strelitzia she’s planning on working alone now. 

__

“Give me your Lux.”

The boy in front of her is a few years younger, almost ridiculously so. He can’t be older than ten, and he holds his basic Starlight keyblade in a loose backwards grip. Weak bottom rung wielder. The sorts that disappear on missions and then vanish from roll call. 

Not anyone with any hope of surviving what’s to come. Elrena might as well be asking a corpse for its Lux.

The boy screws up his face, half furious, half terrified. “W-what! You can’t! I mean I just… I mean! It’s mine, I worked for it! You have plenty, there is plenty to go around!!” 

It’s true. Elrena does have plenty. The amount of Lux this kid has is probably barely worth her time. It’s not about Lux. 

It’s about how a few minutes earlier, she watched somebody do the same thing to him, and he  _ listened _ . 

It takes a special sort of pathetic, to get robbed twice in a row. It takes a special sort of pathetic to rob someone to, but Elrena didn’t really know she was going through with it until she stood in front of him. 

Somebody like that shouldn’t even  _ be  _ here. They should wait out the end of the world in some lame corner where they can pretend everything is alright. Him, Strelitzia, Ava, all of them, with their stupid pointless dreams that they all knew were going to get crushed. 

“Did I stutter.” She growls again, stretching out her hand. “Hand over. The damn. Lux. I’ll ask for Munny to if you don’t hurry.” 

The boy looks this way and that. Elrena vaguely wonders if he’s going to cry before he shoves his hand into his pocket and presses something into hers. 

She doesn’t even look at it, clenching her fist. “Is that really it?” 

“Do you want me to turn into a Darkling?” 

Elrena hums a little opening her fist to look at bare sprinkling of Lux. No. She probably didn’t want that. “You should go home.” She says, with a cruel sniff that hardly sounds like her before she turns and walks away. 

_ Should have asked for that Munny. _ Part of her says. 

__

The day the bell rings, Elrena barely spares a glance to the wielders around her, shuffling out of houses with confused eyes, slowly gathering, taking roll call in their parties before heading to the battleground.

She walks alone towards the Dandelions meeting space. She refuses to look at the faces of the other children that brush past her, instead focusing on the scenery. A half eaten lunch in a cafe, a book abandoned by a fountain, placed carefully to preserve the page number. Someone nearby looks up from watering the flowers in the park, scratching their brow as the clock towers bell echoed through the streets. They look conflicted, clutching the watering can to their chest as they glance between the bell and the flowers.

“I can finish up for you.” Elrena says, stopping a few feet away. “I’m….waiting for someone. I’m not in a rush.” 

“Oh! Thank you!” She doesn’t see their face. She looks at the chirithy pin on their lapel as they press the watering can into her hands. “I should go find my party. We started this garden together, you know!” 

Elrena nods, a strange lump in her throat.

“Well…” They pause, the awkward silence lingering for a second. “I guess I owe you than! I’ll see you around--Let me pay you back sometime!” 

They run off, their keyblade sparking in their hands as they turn the corner and vanish. 

Elrena watches a second before she leaned down to slowly finish watering the flowers. The town was very quiet around her, the last few stragglers making their way out of the city. She looked down at the flowers again, feeling something uncomfortable bubble up in her chest. The flowers, yes. There’s quite a few, of all different colors. It’s clear the amount of care that had been put in them.The toll of the bell shook around her once more, making Elrena jump and rattling a droplets off of a daffodil to land at her feet.

The lump in her throat felt like it was choking her. She couldn’t breath. She was breathing too much, hiccupy and fast as she clutched the watering can to her chest so hard the cold edges dug into her shirt. 

They were all going to die. _ They were all going to die. _

She didn’t care, she didn’t. Elrena didn’t even know these people, didn’t know half of anyone in this town. Some of them she’d been downright nasty to, for no other reason than she felt like she could. There was no reason to be upset. There was none. So why, why now on the last day was she suddenly-?

The watering can crashed to the ground. Elrena fell to her knees, crushing those precious flowers she’d promised she’d look after as she retched into her hands, scrubbing at her face furiously as she hacked and sobbed under a storm of emotions she didn’t understand.

She didn’t know how long she stayed there, curled up in the middle of that empty park. She pushed herself up to her hands, stared down at the earth blankly. She was sick of this. Sick of this war. Sick of her lack of control. 

Everyone was going to die today, but Elrena  _ wasn’t _ .

**Author's Note:**

> I always got the impression, when we first saw Elrena in KHUX, that she was somebody putting on a kind of front. That she wasn't exactly as kind and demure as she wanted to seem. Larxene didn't come from nothing after all, and I wanted to write something exploring somebody who might _become_ Larxene.


End file.
